Diversity

I'd like to begin with a brief comment on one of the essays we were not required to read in the Roen textbook. In "The Importance of Framing the Writing Classroom as a Space of Public Discourse," Michael Stancliff states, "your classroom will be diverse, even if your eye registers demographic homeogeneity." This is so true. Just to name a few quick categories: we have people who are men, women, single, married, parents with infants, parents with older children, and people from all different parts of the country. We are all different and we all approach teaching and learning differently.

One of the key points I pulled from the "Contending with White Instructors" article is that racism can manifest in subtle ways. I'd like to give just one small example. To say, "we read essays by Black authors and they were wonderful..." vs. "we read essays by Black authors but they were wonderful." In the first example, I don't hear any discrimination; however, in the second example with the use of "but" I hear a difference that makes me cringe. In the second example, it is as if the author expected Black authors' writing to be less wonderful than essays by other authors.

Another subtle example of behavior that could be perceived as racist is how often people of color are called on to respond in class in proportion to their caucasian counterparts. I read the research a long time ago about how boys are called on more frequently than girls. I can't remember the exact study information, but the point that I wanted to draw is that in addition to watching how frequently I call on male or female students, I should also ensure that I solicit responses from as many different students as I can.